The impact of Co-Production on the Client-Therapist Therapeutic Relationship in an Intellectual Disability Service

Abstract

To evaluate the impact of an intervention designed to facilitate co-production on the client-therapist therapeutic relationship in an intellectual disability service.The ‘My Psychology Treatment Plans’ intervention was administered to 20 service users during their first three months of admission to a tier four specialist intellectual disability forensic service. Pre- and post-scores were collected using the service user version of the Scale to Assess Therapeutic Relationships (STAR-P; McGuire-Snieckus et al., 2007).A paired-samples t-test revealed a significant increase in positive collaboration, positive clinician input, and overall total score. This suggested an overall increase in positive therapeutic relationship.The findings support the existing literature of the importance of co-production in increasing the therapeutic relationship between client and therapist, and co-production should be a key component of developing treatment plans.This study contributes to developing an understanding of the importance of co-production in secure services, particularly within an intellectual disability population.